EDITORIAL

Step by terrifying step, the Reagan administration
closes one door to peace after another, snubs one
Soviet peace proposal after another, and moves stead-
ily toward a full-scale arms race with all its dangerous
consequences.

The logic of Washington’s unprecedented military
build-up is coming home to roost. The 1979 Strategic
Arms Limitation Treaty, even though unratified by
the U.S. Congress, nevertheless basically kept a cap on
an unbridled weapons race.

But today, as the U.S. submarine fleet expands (the
latest Trident, the USS Nevada, was launched last
week), and B-52 bombers are being fitted with cruise
missiles at the rate of one every 21 days, SALT II has
become an impediment to the Pentagon. The first
official indication that the U.S. will scuttle SALT II
came last week when Reagan announced the B-
52/cruise program would continue past the treaty
limits of 1,320 in December. This was accompanied by
an anti-Soviet tirade in which he attempted to blame
the USSR for the impending end of SALT II.

Just days later, U.S. Defence Secretary Caspar
Weinberger told West Point cadets, “We are no longer
bound by that flawed agreement.” He then said on
national television: “Our security requirements will be
the primary, indeed, the only concern. Whether you’re
technically in compliance (with SALT) or not, is a
totally irrelevant factor.”

This belligerent posture was carried into the NATO
meeting of foreign ministers in Halifax where U.S.

Someone should keep a tally of the victims of apar-
theid in South Africa between June 2, 1986 and when-
ever External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and his Tory
government decide to act firmly against Pretoria.

Someone should record the names of those who will

_ be shot, whipped, clubbed, gassed, tortured, jailed and
banned between the day, when Ottawa once more
refused to apply total mandatory sanctions, and the
day the Tories will finally understand there is no other
course.

These names should then be read out in Parliament
while each Tory member is required to sit in his/her
place and listen. The entire proceeding should be
televised in every Canadian classroom and living-
room.

Despite the latest and highly publicized plea from
Bishop Desmond Tutu for immediate mandatory
sanctions against the cruel regime, Clark told the
country June 2 that his government plans no action
for at least another month. Mulroney and Clark have

End of SALT will open
___ terrifying new arms race

Secretary of State George Shultz, despite serious res-
ervations by the other NATO member-states, called
SALT II “obsolete, unratified and being violated.”
Shultz announced U.S. policy would now be tied to
“Soviet behavior” on such issues as “human rights,
Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Cambodia.”

The Soviet Union immediately made its position
clear on this latest provocation. It accused Washing-
ton of “opening the floodgates” for a new arms race,
and pledged it would take “‘the necessary practical
steps to prevent the military strategic balance from
being upset...” This is fully in keeping with the
USSR’s position that it will not permit NATO to
achieve military superiority.

Thus, with SALT II scuttled and the 1972 Anti-
Ballistic Missile treaty under severe strain, a new,
unpredictable, unrestricted arms race will begin on
land, sea, in the air and in space. The Reagan doctrine
and the right-wing agenda for the 1980-1988 period
will have carried through.

But it’s still not too late for Washington’s NATO
allies, to try to restrain their “senior partner.” They,
Canada, included, should urge the United States not
to break SALT II. The reservations and concerns
expressed at Halifax should be turned into a public
demand that Washington not only honor SALT II,
but begin to come to agreements with the USSR on
measures to prevent a new, unpredictable and volatile
arms race.

Children die, Tories sit

plenty of time. They and their Tory colleagues are safe
and well-fed; their children aren’t being killed on the
streets.

Joe Clark actually attended a banquet in Bishop
Tutu’s honor in Toronto on May 30 and listened to
the message of immediacy and urgency by Tutu. But,
hiding behind the fig leaf of the eminent persons group
and the coming Comonwealth conference in August,
Clark then told the Commons that Canada will sit
tight. Pleas for action by Liberal leader John Turner
and the NDP’s Ed Broadbent failed, as did Bishop
Tutu, to sway the Tories.

But as the enthusiastic response to the Arts Against
Apartheid Festival in Toronto and to the numerous
appearances and message of Bishop Tutu showed,
Canadians want real action now — notin Joe Clark’s
good time.

As South African patriots die, Joe Clark and the
Tories sit. They should never be allowed to forget that.

ELCOMeE
meee Coes

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hour! :

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN
Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON
Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK
Graphics — ANGELA KENYON Ag

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eldom does the real history of
B.C. — by which we mean, the his-
tory of the working class who built this
province — find its way into popular
accountings. And, because of the political
realities of our day, does it receive much

People and issues years — and has, until recent times?

f\ Ithough he’s been imprisoned bY %
racist South African regime fo!”

virtually unknown by most of the a
the world — the courageous leadet % "|;
African National Congress has cont”

attention in the rest of Canada.

So it makes us all the more pleased to
report that at least in the community of
Cumberland, the working people of that
Vancouver Island municipality will receive
their due this month.

The occasion will be the dedication of
two cairns — stone markers — honoring
the area’s coal miners and its Chinese and
Japanese citizens, and the laying of a
wreath at the grave of labor organizer and
martyr Ginger Goodwin on Saturday, June
21. The day-long ceremonies are being
hosted by the Cumberland and District
Historical Society, with the assistance of
several unions: the Canadian Association
of Industrial, Mechanical and Allied
Workers, the Canadian Association of
Smelter and Allied Workers, and Sud-
bury’s Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers
Union, Local 598.

The affair has a twofold purpose. For
the local chamber of commerce, which
supports the event, it is an effort to boost
the tourist potential for Cumberland. But
perhaps more meaningfully, for the histor-
ical society, the key purpose of the
Workers Memorial Day is the promotion

of health and safety in the workplace, the
commemoration of B.C. workers killed on
the job, and the reverence and respect due
to Ginger Goodwin.

We haven’t the space to go into detail,
but we can report that ceremonies begin at
10:30 a.m., when participants meet at the
Cumberland Museum, corner of Dunsmuir
Avenue and First Street. Following that is

-a cairn dedication at the No. 6 Mine,

where 295 were killed between 1864 and
1964; a wreath-laying at Ginger Good-
win’s grave in Cumberland memorial
cemetery’ a cairn-laying at the Chinese
and Japanese cemetery; a picnic, cerem-
ony and musical presentation at Kin Park,
Dunsmuir and Sixth Streets; and a special
dinner and dance in the evening.

For further information, the Cumber-
land historical society can be phoned at
336-2445.

* * *

une 21 is a busy day — we pause here
to give an unabashed plug for the
Tribune Victory Banquet at the Russian
Hall in Vancouver, beginning at 6
p.m. — and we note that, again on Van-

couver Island, the local peace forces have
their activities planned.

For Vancouver Island peace groups,
the activities actually begin on June 17,
when groups of marchers from both
Courtenay and Victoria begin a five day
peace walk along the Island Highway.
they’re scheduled to arrive sometime early
on the following Saturday at Nanoose
Bay, just north of Nanaimo.

The joint walks are planned to draw

attention to the aims of Nanoose Conver-
sion Campaign, the group which has
camped on the shores of the bay where the
United States Navy uses the Canadian
Forces Maritime Testing Range to exper-
iment with a number of submarine wea-
pons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles
and nuclear-capable depth charges. The
campaign is seeking a conversion of the
base to peaceful uses.
- Those wishing to participate in the
walk, which is supported by some 25 local
peace organizations, can write the Nanoose
Peace Walk, Box 242, Merville, B.C. VOR
2M0, or phone the following numbers:
335-0036 (Hornby Island), 337-8133
(Courtenay), or 383-1795 (Victoria).

to make his mark in the struggle 4
apartheid. Now, with the struggle int
fied and making headlines everywhe!®:
presence and accomplishments of N€
Mandela, and his wife Winnie — wh?
consistently defied house arrest and ?
ning” by the government in Pretori4
are part of household conversation. wl
In keeping with this, the U.S. ee
television station, KCTS, is airing 25 ale
on the two revolutionaries. Entitled ™,
dela, the one-hour documentary ex#
the lives and work of the Mandelas ff?
the day Nelson was imprisoned in 1958, of
to the present. It will be aired first
Wednesday, June 25 at 9 p.m., and a8
on Monday, June 30,at1 p.m. 19
Accompanying the June 25 showit®
Mandela is Women of South Afri es
ninety-minute presentation that incl i
two films: “Maids and Madams,” ©
cerning the lives of black domesti@ |
South Africa and “South Africa Bel.
To Us,” which includes a clande&
interview with Winnie Mandela. It si
at 10 p.m. pl
KCTS can be received by any A
subscriber on Channel 9. Be

4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 11, 1986